Burns Like Fire (Dangerous Creatures #1)

by Mandy Rosko

  Jamie was really hoping this was just a mistake, that her phone was lost or dead and that she was just inexplicably unable to contact him, not because of hunters, but that was so damned unlikely that he felt like yanking his hair out.

  She was caught. The hunters had caught up with her and she'd probably been hauled off to a compound somewhere for study hours ago.

  The thought of the collectors being rough with her, and handlers grabbing at her, taking her clothes away and pushing her every which way they wanted her to go before a scientist stuck her with needles, made it difficult for him to breathe.

  He could feel his temperature rising and he could barely see or hear the people who were walking past him on the sidewalk. He needed to get away from them. He felt eyes on him from all angles and it itched him all over in a way he couldn't scratch.

  Jamie inhaled deeply. He did it again, and then again. It got easier when he focused. He was going to be hauled in, too, if he didn't cut it out and calm down. He'd already sucked the power out of an entire city block when he checked his phone for the fourteenth time since waking up early that morning. Now he was buzzing with electricity, and it would be too easy for him to lose control and draw even more unwanted attention.

  It couldn't be helped. He'd just been too pissed. His best friend was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.

  All the electricity that had been coursing through air conditioners, televisions, and even the phones and iPods from people walking around on the streets, had been tapped. It flowed right into his body as if it had nowhere else to go. Jamie was still jumpy and jittery, like he was on a sugar high. Tiny blue sparks danced out from his fingers. He probably had another white patch in his hair. Thank god he was such a pale blond, almost platinum, that it was hard to notice, but the way his hair stuck up was more noticeable.

  He'd gotten out of Dodge when he realized what was happening, as everyone around him yelled and searched around for the source of the disruption.

  Running helped. Physical exercise always succeeded in working some of the energy out. The rest he'd need to put back into the ground, once he found a safe place.

  On the other hand, taking off like a bat out of hell probably hadn't been such a great idea. Nothing screamed “pay attention to me!” like someone running away from the scene when something weird was happening.

  Hunters had probably been called already, which meant he needed to get his ass home now so he could hide out.

  But if Cindy had been picked up, and they tortured information out of her, he was going to have to move out of the city before she spoke and the roads shut down. He had to do it before the sun set today. He trusted Cindy, but there was no telling what would happen to her if she didn't comply in the labs.

  "Jamie? What are you doing here?"

  He jumped at the voice, but then he sighed as he turned around, glad for someone he knew. "Ethan, hey, I was just—" Jamie stopped abruptly.

  Ethan stared at him, patiently waiting for an answer, his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

  Jamie could hardly look at him. The second his eyes noticed the light that glimmered off of the gold badge at his hip, not a cop's badge either, the one that had a hawk in flight, Jamie stepped back.

  "I didn't know you were a hunter," he said.

  "Yeah, I was going to mention it eventually, I guess," Ethan said, rubbing his hand over his trimmed beard. His dark eyes moved back up to Jamie's face, glinting with suspicion. "What are you doing here?"

  "Just hanging out."

  "In an alley?"

  "What?" Jamie looked around. There were bricks and trash and dumpsters lining the space he found himself in. Fuck. He was in an alley.

  "Yeah, in an alley. What are you doing here?" Jamie asked. "This isn't exactly a place to be social."

  Ethan stared at him hard for a good solid minute, and then took a step toward him. "Are you selling something?"

  "What? No," Jamie said. Hunters weren't cops, but in most cases, they had more power than cops did. Ethan could easily fuck up Jamie's day even more if he suspected Jamie was dealing something.

  "Are you buying something?" Ethan asked, his voice level, but still suspicious..

  "No!"

  Jamie snapped his mouth shut. Fuck. It might've been better if he'd just admitted to wanting to buy something. Wanting to get high by drinking the blood of paranormals, or smoking some of their hairs, would've been a hell of a lot easier for Jamie to deal with than having Ethan looking at him like he was now, regardless of the questions he'd have to answer.

  Shit, what if Ethan was in the area because of the power outage Jamie had caused? Ethan could be hunting Jamie and not even be aware of it.

  Adrenaline surged through Jamie's blood, and his whole body visibly trembled with the struggle to hold everything back. He crossed his arms, damn near sticking his hands under his armpits just to hide the little bolts of blue electricity. He needed to make an excuse and get the hell out of here, right now.

  It was too late. Ethan's eyes were locked on. He knew he was here for Jamie, and he was getting ready to spring.

  Jamie's heart ached. He bit his lips as he stared at the man in front of him. "Why did you have to be a hunter?"

  He didn't give Ethan the chance to respond. Jamie launched a blue rocket of electricity and didn't wait to see if he hit his target or not. He didn't want to see that. All he heard was Ethan's pained, and very angry, shout.

  "I'm sorry!" Jamie yelled behind him, and he ran for his damned life.

  *****

  Jack's leg was twitching with antsy energy as he waited for Cindy to finish. He'd been suspicious when the ten minute mark passed, but he didn't just want to barge in on a woman in the bathroom.

  Even when they were dating, they hadn't done the married couple thing where he would be on the toilet while she was in the shower.

  For that reason, he had no idea why he was so shocked when she finally came out of the bathroom. The little dress she was still wearing from the night before was hiked up higher on her amazing thighs, her hair just a little neater, and perfect heart shaped lips almost looked puckered. Her eyes were half-lidded, and was he wrong, or did that have that “come and get it” sort of look he'd seen on her before… back when they were together and she wanted to be playful.

  "What are you—"

  "I'm still starving. Do you have anything to eat up here?" Cindy asked. She stretched her body just enough to make her breasts stick out, and her stomach appear firmer and slimmer. Not that she needed any help with that

  She rubbed her hands up and down her hips and sides, then scratched her nails through her hair, which made her look like she'd just finished rolling around in bed.

  The I just had sex and enjoyed it look was so fucking sexy on a woman. The fact that Cindy was wearing last night's dress helped her to pull it off even more, but he knew she hadn't had sex last night because he certainly hadn't touched her.

  Her thighs were so incredibly creamy. They appeared smooth to the touch, and his fingers itched to move forward and feel for himself. Cindy cocked her hip as he put most of her weight on one leg.

  "Jack?"

  "I...what?" Jack asked. He moved his eyes away from her body, but he had trouble keeping them on her face.

  "You said you would get me some more food. Since you didn't leave me much before?"

  Cindy's mouth and eyes might've been telling him to throw her down on the nearest surface and fuck her, but that sentence right there was spoken with perfect clarity.

  In fact, when he blinked and looked up at her again, it was like he'd dreamed up his last image of her because, aside from her skirt being hiked up, she was giving him an odd stare.

  "Jack?" she asked.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He needed to think, to get clear-headed. "Yeah, here, I'll take you into the kitchen. There should be some Chinese leftovers from last night."

  "Did you get my favorite on purpose or d
id you just not have time to cook because you picked me up?"

  The fact that she had a playful smile on her lips told him something. Were they darker than before? Her mouth was swollen, like she'd just been thoroughly kissed. "Something like that. Not having time, I mean. Let's go," he said.

  Jack led her down the hall. His house wasn't exactly big. It was only a bungalow, and he'd added the basement himself.

  It was a perfect set up for someone who lived alone, without many visitors.

  But the narrow halls and chain between them made it incredibly easy to see the gentle sway in Cindy's hips. Just the thing she used to do when she wanted to his attention. He just wanted to keep his eyes on her, and now he could barely look away from her ass.

  When he looked up again and realized she'd caught him staring, his entire body tensed up. He'd thought she would shake her head and be disgusted, but instead her kissable lips pulled up in a tiny, flirtatious smile.

  Holy shit. She was trying to seduce him. She was actually trying to make him lose his cool.

  Son of a bitch.

  He opened the fridge, grabbed the Chinese and put the containers and boxes on the counter; the chain linking their two bodies clinked just a little as he moved around. The kitchen was a small space, but he was still able to get to the drawers and grab a fork.

  Jack stopped himself before he could lift it out. He stared at it, along with the many knives that were in there. He looked over his shoulder to see what Cindy was doing. She was leaning on her elbows on the island counter, back stretched and leaning on one leg in a way that made the swell of her ass stick out.

  She was pretending not to notice what she was doing as she stared down at the take out boxes, waiting for him to get her a utensil. Then her purple eyes turned toward him, as if she'd sensed his eyes on her. There was so much curly red hair framing her face, and her lips looked kissably swollen, and red.

  Fuck, she was too damned sexy. Jack's blood warmed and moved down to fill his cock. Why was this working? He knew what she was doing so there was no logical reason for his body to react this way.

  "What?" she asked.

  Jack cleared his throat. He was the worst. After all this time, and after what she'd done, he couldn't stop imagining just grabbing her by the hips, tossing all the food off of the counter and throwing her down on it so that he could spread her legs, settle between them, and put his mouth on her wet folds. Would she taste the same as she used to? Would she moan and keen and grab at his hair when he put his cock inside of her?

  It made him angry just thinking about it.

  His cock was already hard, and he turned back around, breaking eye contact with her, and grabbed a spoon. Please God, don't let her notice that her actions were working.

  He handed her the spoon before standing on the side of the counter island, using it to hide the lower half of his body without being too obvious about it.

  She held up the spoon and gave him a quizzical look.

  "I'm not about to give you something you can stab me with," he said.

  He expected some snarky response, but instead she shrugged and opened up the boxes. "Can you plate any of this? Do you have a microwave?"

  "Just eat what's in front of you or don't eat anything at all." He was already angry enough at himself for wanting her. The way she was leaning now meant he could perfectly see the swell of her supple breasts. They were practically popping out of the dress.

  He shouldn't stare, that was making it worse, but he couldn't look away either.

  Cindy turned away from him and shrugged again, like she didn't care if he made her eat off the floor.

  "That's fine," she said as she opened some more of the containers, pulling out red sauce and dribbling it over her rice and those chicken ball things.

  Even though the food was cold, when the first spoonful was inside of her mouth, her eyes closed and she moaned.

  She did the same thing on her next bite. Each time the spoon went beyond her red lips, he wanted to lean in and touch them, or any part of her.

  Every time she moaned and smiled, Jack imagined himself behind her, or beneath her, kissing and teasing her most intimate places. Would she spread her legs if he prompted her to? Would she moan just like that as she gave him better access to her clit? She clearly wanted this.

  Just because he fucked her didn't mean he had to care about her. It wouldn't magically cause him to forgive her for what she'd done to him, either.

  "This is so good," Cindy said, taking another tiny bite of her chicken. She must've thought it wouldn't look sexy if she stuffed her cheeks like a squirrel. He'd never seen any woman eat so carefully.

  It was incredibly sexy when she used her finger to swipe up some of the red sauce from the container, and then sucked it right off the digit, pushing her finger deep between her wet lips.

  Their eyes met when she did that, and the amethyst color seemed darker under her heavy lashes.

  Jack imaged those same lips stretched around his cock instead of just her finger, and he absolutely hated her for doing this to him. Probably just to prove a point.

  She was here, she was giving him all the right signals, why the hell shouldn't he take her?

  Now his body was really starting to react. Once his brain buckled under the pressure, that was all the rest of him needed before the gates burst open and the monster inside was free.

  Most of the lust was gone from Cindy's eyes just then, and Jack could tell she was aware that she was about to get what she wanted.

  "Jack?"

  He stepped around the island counter and right into her personal space. She turned around as if to back away from him, but he just pressed her back into the counter and held her in place.

  So damned close. Her body heat radiated from her like he was standing in front of a blaring furnace.

  Jack had to look down just to make sure her cuffs were still on and working. Yup, they were there, and there were no flames anywhere in sight.

  Cindy's throat moved as she swallowed. Jack watched that movement and wanted to put his tongue there. He stared at her, and she looked right up at him.

  "You don't seem very sure of yourself anymore," he said.

  She blinked up at him. "What?"

  He did it then, he touched her. He put his hand on her shoulder and let it slide across her smooth skin, up her slim throat, and to her jaw. "You're trying to seduce me," he said, and he had to touch that bright red hair. It was just as soft as he remembered it.

  "Is it working?" Cindy asked.

  "Might be," Jack said. Everywhere he touched her skin to skin burned like the dangerous fire that was inside of her, but in a good way. He hadn't felt this way with anyone else he'd been with.

  Inexplicably, she tried to lean away from him, but couldn't get very far because of the counter behind her. "What if I've changed my mind?"

  "Then that would be too damned bad for you," he said. "Because I wouldn't believe you for a second. You wanted this, so you're going to get it."

  Her purple eyes widened for a split second, and then she glared at him. "Fine, I was lying anyway, and so what if I wanted to seduce you? I just wanted to see if you would go for it, considering what you think I did."

  He was going to make her pay for that.

  "You want me to fuck you?" he asked, letting both hands slide back to her shoulders, then to her waist and hips, yanking her forward until their pelvis's smacked together, letting her feel his cock through his jeans. "All right then, let's go."

  *****

  Cindy had been sweating, panting, and her heart raced as she came down from the high of her orgasm.

  Jack was still hugging her tight as his pelvis moved forward and back, thrusting his still hard cock inside of her at a rapid pace. His pubic bone pressed against her clit each time he came forward.

  She was kind of sore from that now that the pleasure had peaked. They'd only done this a handful of times now, but she loved the hell out of it as she sank her fingers into his hair and
gripped it tight, yanking a groan out of him.

  "Come inside me," she said, mouthing along the shell of his ear, and then pressing her lips to his cheek.

  He always had that three day old stubble, and even though she had no idea how he kept it like that she adored it, the same ways she adored the choked sound of his moan, and the final thrust of his pelvis as he came deep inside of her, warm seed filling her up.

  He was panting as he all but collapsed on top of her. The only thing that kept all of his weight from crushing her were his elbows.

  They were at her place, in the house she shared with her three roommates. They didn't much like it when she brought Jack over, especially considering the fact that they were paranormals, too, but they couldn't exactly do anything about it.

  She paid rent here, too, after all.

  Cindy's room wasn't big, in fact it was laughably small, but the bed was just the right size for her and Jack.

  It was a twin, so they were always forced to cuddle closely together. Cindy didn't mind, and she was starkly aware of the fact that Jack never complained about it either.

  He kissed her on the mouth, and she leaned into it as he adjusted himself so that he was lying just beside her, holding her close. "I knew you missed me," he said, grinning at her like a man who'd just gotten dragged into the bedroom and laid almost by surprise. Which happened to be the case.

  She returned his smile. It had been two weeks since she'd confessed to her little crime of just existing. There was a lot of crying and explaining on her part, but Jack —with a shocked expression and a gaping mouth— had been good enough to at least wait to hear what she had to say. Afterwards, he'd held her, kissed her, and said he didn't care. They'd seen each other a lot since then.

  Life had been pretty damned good after that. "It was only three days," Cindy replied.

  "And despite that, you jumped me like you hadn't seen me in months. Don't worry, I'm not complaining," Jack said, still with that annoyingly cocky smile on his face.